‘It’s strange’ – Antonio Conte SLAMS Tottenham’s transfer strategy after offloading four players in January
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ANTONIO CONTE revealed he was surprised by Tottenham’s departures in the transfer window.
The Spurs boss believes it shows the club have made mistakes with signings in the past.
Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Bryan Gill left on loan while Dele Alli joined Everton on a permanent deal.
Conte said: “For sure, it was strange. It was strange to send on loan, and sell one player, in the January transfer window.
"It was strange because it means something went wrong in the past.
“It was strange, I repeat in January to send four on loan, and sell one player. It means maybe in the past, you have to see what you did. And maybe to understand that there were some mistakes in the past.
“Because usually you have to buy players to reinforce your team.
"But if you send away players on loan you bought in the last two or three years, it means maybe you did something wrong in the past.”
Asked if he was expecting to lose so many players, Conte added: “Honestly, before arriving at Tottenham, to read the list of players you have in the squad, I considered all the players are important players.
“Because Ndombele we paid a lot for and it was the same for Lo Celso and Gil.
"Then only when you’re in the situation, you understand very well which is the best solution for the club and for the players in this moment.
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“For sure to lose four players in January, I repeat is not normal.
“We shared the decision with the club and the players. But I repeat, it means something wrong happened in the past.
“Usually you buy players to reinforce your team, you don't lose players after one, two or three years.
“For this reason, we have to pay more attention in the future when we go in the market about the choice of the players. It becomes of fundamental importance if we want to reinforce the quality of the team.
“Otherwise, when you go to reinforce the quality of your team, you drop the quality of your team."
Despite his comments about the departures, Conte feels the Spurs squad has been improved.
Ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup fourth round tie at home to Brighton, said: “The squad is more complete.
“Before, if we had an injury, I was in trouble. For sure, the squad is now more complete.
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“We tried to fill the right role with one midfielder in Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski can play as a No.10 and also he can play as a wing-back.
“Now we’re more complete than before.”
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